CORONADO: The San Diego-Coronado Bridge was closed for three hours late Saturday and early yesterday while authorities negotiated with a 25-year-old man who threatened to jump from the span. Shortly after midnight, the man jumped and killed himself, authorities said.

State Route 75 on the bridge was blocked from about 9:06 p.m. to 12:35 a.m. A crisis negotiator was called to the scene at 9:20 p.m. and negotiated with the man until he stopped talking and suddenly jumped, San Diego police said.

–M.A.

Boy says he was groped at store; suspect jailed

SANTEE: A 28-year-old man was arrested Saturday afternoon at the Santee Wal-Mart after a boy reported being assaulted in the store's bathroom, sheriff's deputies said.

The 9-year-old boy was in the bathroom about 2:15 p.m. while his mother waited outside. Authorities said a man grabbed and groped the boy over his clothing. The boy ran out of the bathroom and told his mother about the assault. The woman then reported the assault to WalMart staff and the Sheriff's Department. Deputies and store staff members searched the store on Town Center Parkway and found a suspect. Deputies said the boy identified the man from a surveillance video. The man admitted to the assault during an interview, deputies said. He was arrested on suspicion of child molestation and booked into the jail downtown in lieu of $50,000 bail.

–A.M.

2 people hurt in shooting involving off-duty cop

OCEANSIDE: Two people were injured Saturday during a shooting in Oceanside involving an off-duty San Diego police officer. Authorities said the shooting was prompted by an apparent road-rage incident.

The shooting was reported at 9:14 p.m. in the parking lot of the Lowe's home improvement store on Old Grove Road near state Route 76. Two victims were flown to Sharp Memorial Hospital and Children's Hospital with injuries described as not life-threatening. Police did not immediately identify the officer involved, but said he would be identified following an investigation. They did not provide additional details about the shooting.

–M.A. & A.M.

Mexican officials capture suspected cartel operative

Mexican federal officials say said they have arrested a man described as a top member of the Arellano Félix cartel in the Gulf of California fishing town of San Felipe.

He was identified as Saúl Montes de Oca, a former Baja California state police agent. Authorities said he coordinated drug shipments and abductions for the criminal organization. Montes de Oca's capture Saturday follows the arrest Tuesday March 11 in Baja California Sur of another key suspected cartel member, Gustavo Rivera Martinez. Rivera, a U.S. citizen and graduate of Bonita Vista High School, was arrested at a hot dog stand in Baja California Sur.

Montes de Oca was nicknamed El Ciego, or The Blind One, and faces charges in the United States and Mexico. He was arrested as he prepared to participate in the Baja 250 Off-Road Race, according to a top official of the Baja California attorney general's office, whose agents also participated in his detention.

State officials said Montes de Oca headed a criminal group responsible for seven kidnappings. Federal officials said he was also responsible for collecting payments in the Mesa de Otay area.

Montes de Oca is suspected of participating in the failed 1997 kidnapping attempt of Jesus Blancornelas, the late editor of the Tijuana weekly, Zeta, who died of natural causes in 2006.

–S.D.

Man struck, killed on I-15 near his disabled car

NORTH COUNTY: A man standing on the side of Interstate 15 near San Marcos was struck and killed by a car yesterday, the county Medical Examiner's Office said.

Paul Jaramillo, 52, of Temecula was having car trouble when he pulled over on the southbound side of the freeway near Deer Springs Road. He was hit at about 2:30 a.m. yesterday.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating the incident and could not provide details on whether any arrests had been made.

–M.C.

Mattress catches fire; apartments evacuated

DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO: More than 100 residents were evacuated and a woman was hospitalized for smoke inhalation after a mattress caught fire at a downtown San Diego an apartment complex last night.

The 7:01 p.m. fire was reported at the Potiker Family Senior Residence on 14th Street near Market Street. Firefighters who arrived four minutes later found that the burning mattress had been extinguished by sprinklers. The sprinklers caused water damage to several units, said Battalion Chief Steve Wright of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said. Wright said most residents were allowed to return by 9 p.m.

–M.A.

2 firefighters hurt in blaze that forced 7 from home

SAN DIEGO: Two firefighters suffered minor injuries yesterday morning while putting out a house fire that displaced seven people in the San Diego neighborhood of Jamacha-Lomita.

The blaze was reported about 6:30 a.m. on Redcrest Drive near Felipe Street. It took firefighters about 30 minutes to gain control of the fire, and the home was heavily damaged, authorities said. The American Red Cross offered temporary housing to seven adults. The firefighters were treated at a hospital and released, said Maurice Luque, a San Diego fire department Fire-Rescue Department spokesman. The cause of the fire was being investigated yesterday. An estimate of the damage was not available.